Why Be A Witch?

I have been asked as a part of preparing for Coven gathering this evening to write a brief statement explaining what it means to me to be a Witch and why I am a Witch.

Essentially I have lived my life outside of nature, in one suburban neighborhood or another.



My life has been isolated enough from nature that really the only daily impact nature has had on me is to affect my selection of clothing so that I would be comfortable. In essence that describes the knowledge of the Wheel of the Year also.

Even with that said, nature is the only place I ever felt a connection to the Divine prior to entering Alcoholics Anonymous. That sense of awe and reverence that I have come to associate with the presence of Divinity-only in nature did I find it, whether drunk or sober.



So when I was told I had to find a Higher Power in order to stay sober, I went hunting for Higher Powers that included the natural world as an integral part of their theology. That pretty much excluded the Abrahimic faiths that I had been exposed to: Judaism and Christianity. Both of those faiths posited that God was outside of or separate from His creation. In fact, nature was to some extent a distraction from what God wanted us doing.

That was fine with me, I was sick of those faiths anyway.

I feel that Witchcraft chose me in many ways. When I encountered the idea of a Goddess based faith, I felt like I was sliding a key into a lock. When I learned that most Pagan faiths are considered Earth-Centered, find Divinity and the Sacred in the natural as well as the spiritual and try to live with the natural cycles—the lock opened and I was on my way. Around the whole concepts of Paganism and Wicca I kept encountering a profound sense of synchronicity.

You’ll notice I said nothing about seeking to practice magick. Magick does not interest me except insofar as how can I assist those in my Coven with their practice.

Being a Witch means trying to live with the rythmns of nature rather than living despite the rythmn of nature. Witchcraft to me is living as a part of, rather than apart from. I still don’t feel I have made much progress materially towards this(largely due to mundane constraints such a debt which traps me where I am). Spiritually? Yes, I have made progress. I tend to want to discount it in a false attempt to be humble, but I have made progress. I am aware , though, that for every step I have taken towards the Goddess, She has walked miles towards me. I get some credit for where I am today, a small amount of credit. She has done the heavy lifting. I have to remember that.

I’m not sure I have answered the questions, but I am out of time and words. So I will leave with a picture of Rocky Mountain National Park, one place I find Divinity on a regular basis.